Till The End of Time
by ABitOfRomance
Summary: He was the self-proclaimed protector of the universe, but who was there to protect him? Who was there to save him from himself? Who was there to tell him he'd gone too far? Who was there to tell him he rose too high? Who was there to knock him down a few pegs with just a flick of her hair or the type of shoes she wore?
1. Chapter 1: Till The End of Time

Sometimes, when The Doctor stood in a place for too long, studied something too closely, or saw something that belonged to his companion, he thought of _her_.

 _The woman with the space hair…_

A smile spread across his face, one of joy and of great sadness, but mostly, he longed for her. He'd regenerated from the face _his River_ was most familiar with, he looked older and had crazy eyebrows that he could likely take bottle tops off with, but it didn't help the longing and sorrow he felt in his, not one, but two hearts. Having two hearts didn't make it any better. It wasn't spread evenly amongst the two, if anything, it made it worse.

Sometimes, when he did sleep, he'd wake from a terrible nightmare. The terror from Weeping Angels or the Daleks or the Vashta Nerada or some other monstrous alien, stayed with him. He'd defeated them time and time again, over and over but never did it make it any easier. He tried to seem suave and collected but inside, he was scared as all hell.

He looked down at the ring he wore. A wedding ring. Yes, they were rushed and they were brought down to their knees with the universe on a downward spiral of collapse, but after everything, they were given rings. If they'd been bought, it might not've had the same sentimental value.

The old girl who was navy blue and bigger on the inside, took pieces of her own metal heart, forged by that of a star and made them. They were presented on a lever of the control room with a note:

 _For my Doctor and the only woman who can ever protect him._

The Doctor and River took the rings and noticed that they were engraved with Gallifreyan. The T.A.R.D.I.S., being the old romantic that she was, had taken the time and wrote: _Love You Till The End Of Time_. This meant more than the Doctor or River could ever explain, they'd seen the end of time on separate occasions, they'd witnessed the clock stop, the last star burn, even the last life form die.

The Doctor, sat in his now empty bed and looked down at his ring. In his mind's eye, he saw her pretty face, he ran his fingers though her crazy hair and it only felt like a dream, that he'd wake and she'd be there. She'd stir and sit with him and when she grew tired, she'd ask him to lay with her and, though he never liked such things, they'd cuddle and he'd smile. He wanted to give her everything and he almost did, including a proper good-bye, though he never liked them either.

He was thinking about her, and about himself and wondered what they might have become had she the opportunity to stay. He'd fought like hell and still, he lost and he almost never lost a battle with anyone or anything, making it all the more difficult. Yes, The Doctor was able to save her, one last run, one last time, but it didn't help the feeling he felt when his River, his wife, his love, wasn't there. She was alive, in some form or another, but she wasn't with him.

 _You still aren't here._

He thought of the very last night they spent together. The Singing Towers of Darillium, how they sang, and he cried, much like he was now.

 _It's just the wind._ He told her.

 _Nothing is ever just the wind…_ she said to him. Her voice whispered in his ears. In reality, he heard the clicking and sigh of the T.A.R.D.I.S. as she tried her best to console _her Doctor._

When they finished, what River referred to as some of the best food in all the galaxy, they went on their way to take in the sights. They walked along a tourist's road that had been built specifically for the restaurant, hand in hand. Eventually, they found themselves on a deserted beach were aliens equivalent to animals crowed and tweeted. The ocean spoke in a quiet voice with the sand particles sticking to their wet toes.

"Doctor, if this is the last night…"

"River, please…" he begged, he knew it was so and this was the last time he'd ever see her and it didn't get easier with her speaking it outright even if she wasn't sure that it was.

"I want you to know, that I meant what I said on the _Harmony and Redemption._ We, you and I never say these things, but I want you to know that I truly do love you till the end of time."

"River, I…" he began.

"Shut up." his love told him in that flirty singsong voice of her's. She pulled him closer, stood on the tips of her toes and gently caressed his lips with her's. This regeneration of The Doctor was no romantic and River used her sexuality as a weapon but this kiss was something else. Yes, they'd kissed each other numerous times, sometimes simple pecks, others of heat and passion, some of just simple reassurance, but this was none of those.

The Doctor looked up from his ring and thought about what that kiss meant. He felt he was now more alone than ever. He wanted River because she was the one he came to when he knew that he couldn't be strong enough. He'd saved planets on the brink of inhalation, civilizations from slaughtering one another, he was the person people came to when they were afraid, but it took it's toll. He was the self-proclaimed protector of the universe, but who was there to protect him? Who was there to save him from himself? Who was there to tell him he'd gone too far? Who was there to tell him he rose too high? Who was there to knock him down a few pegs with just a flick of her hair or the type of shoes she wore?

River, his River.

She was gone and there was nothing he could do about it.

In the kiss, The Doctor lost himself and indulged his wife. He pulled her closer, normally, he was uncomfortable with physical forms of affection but toward River, he never felt awkward or out of place. She wrapped her arms around his neck, trying to find a bit of slack, pulling him down to her height. Soon, they found themselves rolling around on the sand of the beach, giggling worse than a couple of teenagers. The husband of River Song found himself pinned beneath his wife and she gave him a naughty smirk.

For the night they were on that planet, twenty-four years on Earth's time, they didn't mean for it to happen, as it almost never was so. A Gallifreyan couple would normally do this in a T.A.R.D.I.S. while traveling in the Time Vortex but sometimes, spontaneity came along and unbeknownst to him, The Doctor and River conceived a child.


	2. Chapter 2: Regeneration Energy

"River, you couldn't have told me sooner!" The Doctor yelled, pacing around the small cottage that he and River had taken up residence.

She sat in the arm chair facing the fireplace looking away from her husband as he continued on in his rampage.

"Do you know what this means?" when she didn't answer, he continued, "That child will be in danger just for existing! I need to know these things!" he yelled out in exasperation. River placed a hand over where she figured the unborn child should be as she felt something unusual. The Doctor continued on, but was being ignored. Suddenly, River felt a surge of pain and discomfort. She let out a gasp and held her abdomen tighter.

"River! River, are you listening to me?" his Scottish was thicker with the yelling and his mouth had run dry.

He knew that the child his wife now carried was a Timelord or perhaps a Timelady and although it was still a fetus, already it was in danger. If others knew, they had the capacity to use the babe as anything they deemed worthy. His own wife, who carried Timelady traits and D.N.A. molecules, was brainwashed into killing The Doctor, though she later refused. And if anyone knew that the child was of his own flesh and blood…

He carried a very high bodycount according to the Daleks, the Cybermen, the Silence and anyone who was more than equipped at kidnapping the child. It had happened once, with River and he refused to let it happen again.

River let out another gasp as the pain increased tenfold.

"River?" he was no longer yelling and took notice that she was in pain.

"Doctor? What's happening?" she asked as he knew more about such matters. River never had a Timelord child before, whereas her husband did. He had a very long lifespan so she figured it was bound to happen with someone or another and the hint that he did have a granddaughter gave it away completely.

He knelt down in front of her, sitting on his heels. "What is it?" he asked worriedly for the health of his wife and that of their unborn child.

"I…" she let out another gasp, she preferred not to show pain but what she preferred was damned at the moment. "I don't know." when she exhaled, yellow, glowing particles came from out of her mouth and floated into the surrounding air.

Immediately, The Doctor knew what was happening. "River, this is going to hurt like hell and I'm going to need you to be strong." he breathed in a sigh, unsure of how to stay it, "It's regenerating…"

At those words, her eyes went wider than ever as she looked at him. "What do you mean 'It's regenerating.'? What's happening?" she asked growing worried.

"I mean, that it's literally regenerating. Instead of swimming around in amniotic fluid, there's a bunch of regeneration energy…" he trailed off remembering something he should have much earlier, something that happened before even River knew who and what she was.

River had used whatever regeneration energy she carried and gave it to The Doctor when he was in his eleventh's form. She used it to save him from her as she attempted to assassinate her husband.

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! I'm thick…I'm an idiot!" he exclaimed. "River, you used whatever regeneration energy you had on me…the child would have required that you use some of yours to help carry it to term."

Without warning, The Doctor stimulated his own and caressed her midsection using his hand, forcing it into her body and thus into the fetus.

"Doctor…" River began.

"Quiet, I need to concentrate…" he stated to which his lover kept. He felt his energy leave his own body and she felt it surging though her's. "I don't know…" he breathed, "if this is going to work."

River felt her abdomen growing like a balloon and The Doctor raised his hand with it. She felt what was once pain ever growing, growing even more so. She continued to gasp and as she placed a hand on her husband's shoulder and squeezed. She fought for her breath as her body was stretched to the limit and when The Doctor removed his hand, they found that River looked a lot further along in her pregnancy than she just was. What should have been the first trimester for her human biology, was now more into the third. She almost looked ready to pop and was ever thankful that she decided on a dress rather than the jodhpurs she normally wore.

She met The Doctor's eyes with hers and found that she was no longer in pain, the only thing she felt was that of her skin now stretched and only found it uncomfortable.

His eyes glowed yellow with the regeneration energy and The Doctor blinked a few times, took a few deep breaths and calm himself to keep from actually regenerating.

He smiled a toothy grin and new that she was going to be just fine until the child actually came into the universe. She smiled back, no longer squeezing his shoulder and placed it on the back of his neck to bring him closer. Her husband caught her drift and closed the distance of their lips and kissed her. He brought her to her feet and carefully picked her up and swung her in his arms.

He was going to be a father and she was going to be one helluva mother.


	3. Chapter 3: My Children…

He sat alone.

The Doctor sat in what could be called motion. He wasn't moving unless he counted breathing, thinking, digesting, beyond that was nothing. He sat on a park bench watching the passersby. Just a man sitting amongst the crowd, a forgettable face had it not been for his faded magician's jacket with red lining, he needed to get a newer one; his wife, River, had told him as much. He always listened to River, unless one wanted to feel the scorn of his unhappy wife.

So far, River's pregnancy was fairly easy, save for a few bumps along the road. They weren't quite sure as to when she was due as she refused to see a doctor.

The Doctor smiled in spite of himself for his thoughts had trailed off to his wife not wanting to see a doctor.

River herself had only found out a few weeks before, as her belly hadn't been showing yet. She had her ideas and had missed her monthly, but wasn't sure. She hadn't told The Doctor until a few days after she absolutely knew that she was with child. She wanted to surprise him, which he was, after the initial high of shock came down.

He sat watching the people hustle and bustle about, going here and there, stopping to look at something, and continuing on. He made up names for them and gave them random backstories, explaining who there were and where they came from in his mind. It passed the time and he only did it so he wouldn't think of the future. He was tired of running but he no longer had a choice in the the matter, he made his bed and now he had to lie in it.

He didn't want to think about where he knew River was going and that was to the Library. He knew this to be fact as he himself had witnessed it in his tenth form. He knew that she was going there, he knew that she was going to die. All the time they've been together, he knew the exact date, time and place where he would never see her again and it pained him.

With Susan, Sarah Jane, Donna, Amy, Clara, Rose, Jack…he never knew when they would leave but eventually, they did.

 _Time can be rewritten._ He told her unable to do anything as he sat handcuffed to a pillar.

She looked at him, tears in her eyes and love in her words, fear passed over her face for a second as she thought that he might actually rewrite the past.

 _Not those times. Not one line. Don't you dare! It's okay. It's okay, it's not over for you. You'll see me again. You've got all of that to come. You and me, time and space. You watch us run!_

 _River, you know my name. You whispered my name in my ear! There's only one reason I would ever tell anyone my name. There's only one time I could…_ he looked on at the woman he never knew until that day but knew that she was someone from his future with the way she talked and approached him.

She smiled a smile of bittersweet joy as the countdown approached zero. _Hush now. Spoilers…_ her last words.

She knew him and the future they shared. She knew everything about him, who he was and who he would become.

With the new baby on the way, The Doctor wanted to rewrite time more than ever and had the capacity to do so. He knew this and it only served to make him want to rewrite her past even more but she didn't want him to. His River didn't want any of it, he came when called and had to watch her die. He did save her, quite literally, but he would never be able to see her again and the worst part of all of it was that he knew and she didn't.

 _It's like I'm murdering her…and what of the child?_

Suddenly, he had an idea, an idea that would bring a smile to her face.

 _The cot!_

He wanted to see her happy, if she was going to die, then he wanted to make every moment he spent with her count.

He ran back to his T.A.R.D.I.S. that he parked inside of a storage area in the back of one of the little shops. He ran around the inside of his bigger on the inside machine and knew exactly where he was going.

When he reached his destination, the room lit up. The room that was more of a large closet was placed somewhere deep inside the T.A.R.D.I.S. and he knew no one was likely to walk down a way that led to this room. The Doctor and his police box had an unspoken agreement that if ever anyone who was not him found themselves nearing this pinpoint on a map that never seemed to end, the T.A.R.D.I.S. would rearrange herself to lead away, for this cupboard held his past. This place was something that only he knew of and knew that if anyone knew, his deepest and darkest secrets could unfold and the person who wondered about would know who he is and what he was.

Toward the back, there sat a cradle covered with a white sheet as to avoid dust. When The Doctor felt nostalgic and didn't want to save the universe, he'd disappear into this room and dig though the things that he once used along time ago. Now, it sat on boxes and shelves collecting dust and more than likely never to have a purpose anymore.

The Doctor remembered something Rory the Roman asked him, "But where did you get a cot?" The father of The Doctor's wife stood nearby.

Upon further examination Amy said aloud, "It's old. Really old. Doctor…do you have children?"

"No." he answered.

"Have you ever had children?"

 _Yes._ However, he pretended to ignore the rest of what they parents were saying.

"Who slept in here?" Amy asked as The Doctor placed the baby into the old, wooden thing with Galifreyan writing.

 _My children…_


	4. Chapter 4: Further and Further

River wrote in her diary of what she dubbed 'The Night on Darillium'. She tried not to leave anything out as she thought that this was a night to be remembered as were all the nights she spent with her husband, but the one thing she really had to write about, she couldn't. She knew that it was dangerous to even leave any kind of trace of evidence that she and The Doctor were expecting.

 _"_ _You don't expect a sunset to admire you back. The Doctor is not stupid enough or in love enough to find himself standing in it with me!" I said something to that effect. I was abruptly swept by what I had told aloud, yes, I loved that man and when asked, I'd never deny it but what I said even stopped myself in my own tracks. I looked away from Hydroflax to find that The Doctor had taken a step closer and looked me in the eye._

 _"_ _Hello, sweetie." he'd stolen my line and I needn't anymore explanation than that alone. Those two words alone spoke volumes that were further than the stars, brighter than the sun…_

 _Maybe, just maybe, he does love me…_

 _I fear that I am to lose him, and that fear becomes stronger with every passing day. I know that every time I look at him, he goes further and further away. One day, I will look at him, and he will not know who I am. And it terrifies me._

River looked up from her journal and placed the pen in the crevasse of the pages. Taking a large sigh she felt a familiar kick. She placed a hand over the child that kicked within and she smiled.

"I'm never going to let anything happen to you…" she whispered in the silence of the cottage. The only noise that was made was the chirping of bird-like animals just outside the window, and the sound of her own breathing.

River was never one to ever sit by and let life happen, she was one to grab it by the horns and hang on like all hell but she feared that her grasp was slipping. She liked to take action and explore new places and times. She liked the thrill of the chase and the fear that if she stopped, she might never run again.

She had a thing for explosions and guns and killing, but she was willing to set all that aside and concentrate on what she now knew she had no choice. She had a family and they needed to be protected.

If asked, The Doctor would claim that he would protect her and the child. Yes, he would make sure that there were no monsters under the child's bed and if there was such a thing, he'd take as long as needed to rid them of the creeper. He would yell at the top of his lungs across all of time and space that if anyone wanted to take the child, then were going to have to go though him.

He dared them.

If one was that stupid, they would never see the light of another day but The Doctor's reign of terror would end at the sight of his crying child in want of him, and if that child was not in his arms and coddled, he was going to turn the universe inside out, upside down and tear a few holes in the fabric of reality to find who had taken his little one.

But River wondered if he'd do the same, give up his running and galavanting…

She reread the pages she'd written, her glasses just at the tip of her nose. She heard the sigh of the T.A.R.D.I.S. coming from in the kitchen and wished that he'd find a more permanent place to park the old girl. They had a small cottage out in the middle of nowhere, small enough to not be seen unless someone came looking but large enough that two people could be comfortable.

They could have just stayed inside the T.A.R.D.I.S. and live in there while their date night passed them by but River seemed to like the motherly domestic feeling of living in an actual house. Needing to buy furniture and appliances and lamps. But in her heart, she felt that her and her husband could never truly settle down. They couldn't, there was too much at stake but she knew one of them had to and that someone was more than likely her.

She knew it was dangerous to let her guard down and vowed that she never would. She would protect what was her's and that was The Doctor and their child.

"River!" The Doctor called out.

"In here!" she called back. She sat in the bedroom, writing on a small table in the corner near a window overlooking the vast expanse of wilderness in which the couple currently resided.

"I wanted to show you…" he began and realizing that she was writing and what she was writing in, he simply said, "…oh, I can come back later."

"No, that's alright." she offered as she put the T.A.R.D.I.S. blue book away. They had a spoken agreement that neither person was to look in the diary of the other as it would affect the time stream if either one was to learn about their future and where it led.

"What is it?" River asked, getting up and out of the desk chair. She waddled down the hallway, her husband not far ahead.

"I wanted to show you this. Wait here." he told her as she took a seat at the island in the kitchen, as The Doctor walked into the T.A.R.D.I.S. and walked out with a large wooden cradle in his arms.

"Doctor, is that…?" she began, she recognized the cradle from the Battle of Demon's Run. A large smile spread across her face

"Yes." he smiled, hoping that this might have been the reaction that he received. "It's for the baby…"

"Doctor…I…I love it…" she exclaimed. She grabbed her husband and wrapped him in her arms. Initially, he was stunned and just stood hunched over for a second and then hugged her back.

He held her in his arms taking everything in as he knew these hugs and her days were numbered, when suddenly, he felt her body go limp.

"River? River…" he tried but to no avail. He half carried, half dragged her to the sofa in the living area. "River?" he tried again, tapping her face with his hand, she didn't move…


	5. Chapter 5: Unsure

"River? River?" The Doctor tried again, growing more worried. He checked her breathing, her chest was moving so that was a good sign. He took out his sonic screwdriver and used the light to see if her pupils dilated. They did.

She just fainted and he wasn't sure why.

 _The child…_

He knew that River wasn't going to die as he had already paid witness to that dreadful day but opted to not think of the matter. He thought of what to do when an idea passed his mind. The Doctor snaked his hands under her and picked River up intent on carrying her to the bedroom. When he reached the room, he set her on the bed and propped her head with the pillows. He removed the blanket from beneath her and before folding it back over, he changed her clothing into a pair of pajama pants, a loose fitting shirt and took off her boots. When the task was over, he paced the room.

He followed the shadow of the windowsill, back and forth unsure of what else he could do. The thought of calling someone passed his mind; he might have decided against it when he thought of the closest people that he could trust and would never give up one of the biggest secrets in the universe.

 _The Paternoster Gang…_

He knew that he could trust them and had the utmost confidence in their abilities as midwives and knew that they would die before they told anything The Doctor asked them not to. He ran to his T.A.R.D.I.S. and opened the alcove that held a telephone that could call anywhere in space and time. He knew that Paternoster Row had a telephone as the residents were affiliated with Scotland Yard as detectives.

He dialed the operator for Victorian London, and gave the name of the place his friends took up residence. The phone rang a few times. No one answered, tragically shattering his idea. He peered into the hall as if he could see River and check to make sure she was fine. He was only greeted with a wall. He felt that he stood for hours but in reality was only a few minutes. He wanted to make sure she was fine but he didn't want to leave the telephone incase someone answered.

 _Come on, Vastra._ He thought, when suddenly he was greeted with a familiar voice.

"Hello?" the woman asked.

"Jenny?!" The Doctor exclaimed.

"Doctor?" he heard the surprise in her voice.

"Jenny, I need your help…" The Timelord began.

"Anything, Doctor. For you, I'll have bit the dust."

"It's River, there's something wrong. I'll be over in a few." He hung up the phone, shut the compartment door and ran into his T.A.R.D.I.S. but not before he checked to make sure his wife and child were as alright as they could be. When he arrived in London, he looked up toward the house. He didn't bother to knock as this incarnation was not a people person and that common curtesy didn't exist to him.

"Vastra!" The Doctor yelled. The Silurian ran down the stairs to greet her old friend.

"Doctor, how lovely to see you again!" she said with a smile on her scaled face.

"There's no time! Jenny! Strax!" The Doctor once again yelled. They came in a hurry.

"Timelord." Strax greeted the best he could.

"Doctor! I didn't have time to announce your arrival." Jenny said as she was walking away from the telephone, of which she was just talking to the intruder of the house.

"There's no time, a thing happened." with that The Doctor was running again, intending for the Gang to follow. They did not need to be told as they knew that traveling with the Timelord involved a lot of running.

When they arrived back at the cottage, Jenny took note that a child's cot was placed in the kitchen and thought that was an odd place for something she thought she'd seen along time ago. The Doctor took them to the bedroom where River still lay unconscious.

Vastra looked at the midsection of the woman they knew. She blinked a few times to make sure she was actually seeing what The Doctor was trying to show them. The Gang stood in silence while the curly headed extraterrestrial walked back to his wife and took her by the hand.

"Doctor…" Vastra tried to speak.

"…is that…" Jenny attempted to make the words leave her lips but to no avail.

"…a child." Strax added for her when he knew Jenny couldn't finish. Most things never stunned any of the members of the Paternoster Gang but this was one of those things.

"Yes…" was the only thing offered. "I didn't know who else to call." he turned his head back to look at the members standing, still not believing their eyes. "What you are seeing is not to leave this house. I will not put the life of my wife and that of my child in danger. Do you understand?" he asked sternly. He knew none of them had the nerve, but what he said, he needed to.

"Yes." Vastra spoke just as sternly as The Doctor.

"You have my word." Strax said, taking a step closer but not wanting to get too close as he knew The Doctor to be territorial.

"It will not." Jenny said, still staring at River.

"She was doing just fine. There were a few bumps along the way…" The Doctor said still looking down at the woman who lay next to his sitting posture.

"What do you mean, 'bumps'?" The wife of the Silurian asked.

"When she was younger, back before she knew who she was, she tried to kill me and very nearly succeeded. She used whatever regeneration energy she had to save my life. A Timelord fetus needs regeneration energy from the mother to be carried to term, only she didn't have any." He breathed and stood, still looking at his wife.

"I used some of mine and forced it into her body where the child then grew exponentially." The Gang listened quietly trying get as much information as possible.

"A few weeks later, I'd noticed River was more tired than ever. I figured it was just part of the stresses of being pregnant. She wasn't in pain other then that day. It was easy…then today, I came back from going to pick up a few things and then, she just collapsed. And that's when I called you." He stated finally turning back to his allies.

"I don't know what to do…" The Timelord let the words escape his lips.

* * *

Hello, my dear readers. I just thought that I'd let you know that I will probably not be updating as often as I'd like as I'm currently writing for two different stories at the moment. If you like Miss. Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and wonder what it might be like if Miss. Peregrine had the equivalent of muse in her life, check it out. The first story is called 'You're Always On My Mind' and you can find it if you just go to my page.

I'm currently writing the sequel and will try divide my time evenly for both stories as I wish to keep both groups of readers happy with updating. I would like to apologize if the story is being neglected in any way, be it updating wise or content.

I hope that you are all liking the story so far and to the guest reviewer, thank you for that and I will try to progress the story further along.

If you have any suggestions, ideas or requests of what you, the reader, want to see happen, let me know and I will try my best to put it into the established plot.

As always,

-Your daily dose of romance


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